The master bedroom plan

Our living room (the most-finished space in our house) is almost ready to share, but until I get the finishing touches done we're going to be chatting about our master bedroom (which is still a work in progress)! In our apartment the master bedroom was our least-pretty space, mostly because nobody ever saw it and it became the catch-all for random things we didn't know what to do with. So in this house, I was determined to come up with a relaxing, polished space I wouldn't be embarrassed about.


I knew I didn't want to go too feminine because John does actually live here and does actually have opinions (shocking!). I chose the Banana Palm Lumbar Pillow from Stuck on Hue and when it came I was ecstatic. So pretty and well-made . . . but I definitely should have ordered it in a bigger size (I chose the 11x17"). Don't do what I did! Go for a bigger size! I was also really in love with these Les Touches pillow covers, but I'm going to be totally honest here: I can't pay $65 for one pillow cover and I needed two. So I painted my own. Do they look as good as the originals? Hah. No. But they're similar and don't break the bank.

I was dying to put gold sconces on our navy accent wall above the bed, but again: new house. Newlywed budget. Lots of home projects left to do. So keep your eyes peeled for an Ikea hack that I'm pretty pleased about (but won't be sharing a tutorial for because I've seen others out there and can't claim I came up with the idea).

The amazing artwork is from Minted. It's called Arm in Arm and it's by Jennifer Daily. I'm obsessed with it and it's even better because I got it for free after Minted had me take a survey for new artists and gave me store credit for doing so (you can check out my photo here). I chose the 24x24" print, but wasn't completely sure how I was going to frame it because it's not a common frame size and custom framing can cost a fortune. Then I discovered ArttoFrame.com. I got the correct size frame for around $20 (I chose styrene instead of glass). They shipped it out the day I ordered (who does that?!) and I'm really impressed. It's well-made and definitely doesn't feel cheap, and it doesn't bother me at all that I didn't choose the more expensive glass option.

One of the biggest challenges of this redesign is that our master bedroom doesn't get a lot of natural light. I wanted an all-navy room originally, but realized it would probably end up feeling like a cave, so we compromised by doing one navy wall and three white. Before John left DownEast we also bought the La Jolla Upholstered Bed in the tan option (which isn't shown on the website), so I was excited to have a complete bed instead of just a headboard and rails.

Here's the before so you can get a good idea of what we're working with (tan walls, dark tan trim, tan carpet...)

Here's a little sneak peek of a corner of the room. I'm not sure when the final reveal will be posted - we still have plenty to do and I'm still figuring out the best way to photograph it with the lenses I have.

Have any of you been working on home projects? What's your secret to staying focused on just one space instead of starting seven projects simultaneously? Ha.